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A6 WORLD NEWS
Friday 12 august 2022
Hostage standoff at Beirut bank ends with gunman’s arrest

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB and from the country’s Internal
FAY ABUELGASIM Security Forces and intel-
Associated Press ligence agents converged
BEIRUT (AP) — A gun- on the area during the
man demanding a Beirut standoff. Seven or eight
bank let him withdraw his bank employees were tak-
trapped savings to pay his en hostage along with two
father’s medical bills took customers, George al-Haj,
up to 10 people hostage head of the Bank Employ-
in a seven-hour standoff ees Syndicate, told local
Thursday before surrender- media.
ing in exchange for what Lebanon is suffering from
a family lawyer said was the worst economic crisis
$35,000 of his money. in its modern history. Three-
Bassam al-Sheikh Hussein, quarters of the population
a 42-year-old food-delivery has plunged into poverty,
driver, was promptly ar- and the Lebanese pound
rested and taken away by has declined in value by
police as he walked out of more than 90% against the
the bank. U.S. dollar.
No one was injured. “What led us to this situa-
Hussein’s wife, Mariam tion is the state’s failure to
Chehadi, who was stand- resolve this economic crisis
ing outside, told reporters An armed man Bassam al-Sheikh Hussein, 42, right, speaks with one of his hostages inside a bank, and the banks’ and Central
that her husband “did what in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022. Bank’s actions, where peo-
he had to do.” Associated Press ple can only retrieve some
The hostage drama in the against the Lebanese gov- trapped in Federal Bank After hours of negotiations, of their own money as if it’s
city’s bustling Hamra dis- ernment and banks and and had been struggling to Hussein accepted an of- a weekly allowance,” said
trict was the latest painful hoping that the gunman withdraw his money to pay fer for part of his savings, Abou Zour, who is with the
episode in Lebanon’s eco- would get his money. Some his father’s medical bills and the bank handed over legal advocacy group the
nomic free-fall, now in its bystanders hailed him as a and other expenses, ac- $35,000 to his brother, ac- Depositors’ Union and was
third year. hero. cording to the family and cording to Dina Abou Zour, among the protesters.
The country’s cash- Authorities said Hussein en- others involved in the ne- a lawyer and activist repre- “And this has led to peo-
strapped banks since 2019 tered the bank with a shot- gotiations. senting the Hussein family. ple taking matters into their
have slapped strict limits on gun and a canister of gas- “My brother is not a scoun- Federal Bank attorney Roy own hands.”
withdrawals of foreign cur- oline, fired three warning drel. He is a decent man. Madkour refused to dis- In January, a coffee shop
rency assets, tying up the shots and locked himself in He takes what he has from cuss the terms of the nego- owner withdrew $50,000
savings of millions of peo- with his hostages, threaten- his own pocket to give to tiations and added: “The trapped in a bank in Leba-
ple. ing to set himself on fire un- others,” Hussein’s broth- matter now rests with the non after taking employees
Dozens of protesters gath- less he was allowed to take er Atef, standing outside judiciary, and they will de- hostage and threatening
ered outside during the out his money. the bank, said during the cide.” to kill them.q
standoff, chanting slogans Hussein had $210,000 standoff. Lebanese soldiers, officers

Officials: Floods in Yemen kill at least 38 people in 2 days

damaged, said the offi- previous day that 10 of the Union, the U.N. agency has
cials, who spoke on condi- city’s historic houses have restored more than 200 his-
tion of anonymity because fully collapsed and about toric buildings in the heart
they were not authorized 80 have been damaged of Sanaa over the past four
to talk to the media. by the rains. years but more remains to
The areas are controlled by The architecture in the be done, it said.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who Old City is unique, with red In 2020, floods set off by
are at war with forces loyal brick facades adorned heavy rains similarly dam-
to the country’s interna- with white gypsum molding aged many historical hous-
tionally recognized govern- in ornate patterns, draw- es in Sanaa’s Old City and
ment, backed by a Saudi- ings comparisons to gin- undermined conservation
led coalition. gerbread houses a style efforts.
Yemen’s annual rainy sea- that has come to symbolize The preservation efforts
son usually starts in May Yemen’s capital. Many of have also been under-
and lasts until August but the houses are still private mined in recent years
A view shows a rains-collapsed UNESCO-listed building in the this year, the Arab world’s homes and some are more by the ongoing civil war,
old city of Sanaa, Yemen, Wednesday, Aug 10, 2022. most impoverished country than 500 years old. UNESCO added.
Associated Press has seen heavier-than-usu- In an email sent to The As- “The magnitude of the
By AHMED AL-HAJ ing at least 38 people over al rains accompanied by sociated Press, the U.N. needs on the ground re-
Associated Press the past two days, officials thunderstorms. agency said it was moni- quires further prioritization
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Tor- said Thursday. Meanwhile, UNESCO on toring closely the situation of interventions in inhabited
rential rains across south- Scores of homes in Sa- Thursday voiced concern in Sanaa, as well as in the historic houses of outstand-
western Yemen and the naa and the provinces over the impact of the rain- town of Zabid, a former ing architectural value,
country’s capital of Sanaa of Dhamar and Ibb have fall on the the Old City of capital of Yemen, and the which are facing substan-
have triggered flashfloods completely collapsed or Sanaa, a World Heritage old walled city of Shibam. tial damages,” UNESCO
and collapsed homes, kill- have been significantly site, where rebels said the Along with the European said. q